Electrical protector.



F. R PARKER.

ELECTRICAL PROTECTOR.

APPLICATION FILED fun 1s. 19!].

1,252,942. Patented 32111.8,1918.

IN VEN TOR:

FREDERICK R. PARKER, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

v ELECTRICAL PROTECTOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. s, 1918.

Original application filed August 20, 1904. Serial No. 221,519. RenewedJanuary 19, 1917, Serial No. 143,414.

Patent No. 1,238,728. Divided and this application filed July 18, 1917.

T 0 all whom it may concern Be it known that I, FREDERICK R. PARKER, acitizen of the United States of America, residing at Chicago, in thecounty of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a new and usefulElectrical Protector, of which the following is a specification,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, illustrating same.

This application is a division of my copending United States patentapplication Serial No. 143,414, filed January 19, 1917, which is arenewal of application Serial No. 221.519, filed August 20, 190%.

My invention relates to electrical protective apparatus, such as is usedfor protecting electrical circuits and apparatus of various charactersfrom electricity injurious thereto.

The principal objects of my present invention are, to provide animproved electrical protector of the character herein set I forth; toprovide an improved arrangement of the high-potential electricityarresters in such a protector, and an improved ground plate or mountingplate or means for maintaining the arresters in their improvedarrangement. Other objects will be apparent from the followingspecification.

The figure of the drawing is an end view of a strip of myimprovedelectrical protectors, with one of the high-potential electricityarresters shown in cross-section.

In protective apparatus of the general.

character herein disclosed, it has always been difficult to remove thehigh-potential electricity -arresters or lightning arresters from theapparatus by hand, on' account of the rows of arresters on oppositesides of the ground plate or mounting plate being located very close toeach other, generally a distance apart equal to one or two thicknessesof a thin sheet-metal ground strip.

In the protector of this present invention, however, the rows ofhigh-potential electricity arrsters are separated a considerabledistance from each other, 'due to my imprpved construction of the groundplate or mounting plate, so that in removing an arrester from theapparatus the end of the finger may be inserted between the arrestersof'a pair to enable the arrester-Which is being removed to be readilygrasped between the'thumb and finger for removal. Thus, my improvedconstruction entirely elimi- Serial N 0. 181,242.

nates the aforesaid difficulty heretofore experienced in removingarresters from this class of protective apparatus.

In the drawing, which illustrates one form of my present invention, ddis a ground plate, of any suitable length to accommodate any desirednumber of pairs of. the protective apparatus. 70 shows a groundconnection for the ground plate dd. The body portions d d of the groundplate are preferably of sheet metal and are preferably placed togetherbroadsidedly' as shown, although I do not wish to limit this inventionto this particular construction. The front portions d d of the portionsd d of the ground plate are preferably formed outwardly or spread awayfrom each other as shown, to separate the opposite highpotentialelectricity arresters from each other as will be hereinafter more fullyset forth. The portions d d may be springy portions if desired.

The ground plate dd is also utilized as a mounting plate for theapparatus. Springmembers e e f, f, are mounted in rows along oppositesides of the plate dd, preferably as shown, by rows of mounting bolts 1:Z, the spring members being insulated from each other and from theground plate dd at their mounting by insulation m... The spring tensionin sp'ringse e f 7, tends to throw their free ends toward the groundplate dd. Opposite. spring members ec, on respective sides of themounting plate dd, form a pair, as likewise do opposite spring members7, f, on respective sides of the plate dd. In telephone systems,terminals 1 and 20f each pair of spring members 6 e are preferablyconnected with conductors leading to the switchboard, and terminals? and45 of each pair of spring members f, f,

are preferably connected with conductors leading to the outside lines.

Each set of spring members e i on both I ite, or some other suitablematerial, sepa-' rated by a thin dielectric member 12 of suitableinsulating material. The portions d d mayconsist of series of tongueportions fitting into grooves a, a, in the respective electrodes 7), 5,of the arresters,"or they. may

be continuous portions bearing against the tus by hand as hereinbet'orestated.

Each electrode a is provided with a lever 6 pivoted between cars 72., kof a pin [b whlch is rigidly secured within a hole in the end of a Thelever 2', is normally soldered between the ears 72. 7L4 by easilyfusiblesolder. for operation the free end of spring f is engaged, with one endof thelever 11, preferably as shown, the spring f tending to spring to"the ground plate dd. The portion 6 of spring e engages the electrode a,

near one end thereof so as to place the body of a in a series circuitwith springs e and f 0,, being of carbon, graphite, or some othersuitable resistance material, constitutes a resistance heater and isutilized as such to control the operation of the lever i and thusprovidean electrothermally'operable device or snealecurrent protector.

When a current slightly in excess of the normal, or a larger current,traverses the resistance heater a fora sutlicient length of time, suchcurrent generally coming from a line conductor and traversing a linespring f ,'lever 2" heater a, and switchboard spring e, it producessufiicient heat in-a to cause the latter to heat the pin 7L sufficientlyto soften the'heat-susceptible material holding .the lever'i againstoperation, and thus per-.-

mitthe spring f to operate the lever 2', from "the position i, to theposition i, and release its'elt-it'rom-z' and spring to the position f,

against the ground plate dd. 'This operation-"opens the main circuitthrough the heater a and grounds theline spring f "thus protecting theswitchboard circuit and apparatus connected with the terminal 2 (or 1)from the abnormal current and also grounding the line. When theheat-suscep- 5 5tible material cools it resolders the lever z' ""toth'eportions hgfh, in the position 71 *lVhen a high-potential current'orcharge {of electricity, such as lightning or other fhigl i-potentialelectricity, comes in from the 60 line over a line spring f,, it passesthrough spring f,,'lever 2' aportion of electrode a,

arcs through or across the dielectric p, and

passes through electrode 6 and ground- '-plate dd to ground, thus beingdiverted from the aforesaid switchboard circuit and When the apparatusis set in the position shown.

apparatus by the arrester and consequently being prevented from injuringthe apparatus connected with terminal 2 (or 1). It the discharge throughthe arrester a, p b, continues, or if itis'of large volume andshortduration, the heat of the arc will heat the electrode. a suliiciently tocause the latter to heat the pin h enough td soften the heat-susceptiblematerial holding the lever 2' against operation, as hereinbeforc stated,thereby permitting the spring f to operate the lever 2', to the position-z',, as above described, and release itself from i, and take theposition f against the ground plate dd. This operation opensthe maincircuit between the springs and c andgrounds the line spring 7 as aboveset forth, thereby further protecting the aforesaid switchboard circuitand apparatus from the high-potential current and also grounding theline. This operation of spring 7}, also stops any are in the arresterand the consequent heating thereof. In this case also, when theheat-susceptible material cools it resolders the lever 21,, to the.portions k h, in the position i 1 Y I In any case, after the operationof spring 2, as above described, the protector may be reset for anotheroperation by simply removing the parts a, 6 from the apparatus, turningthe portion a, with the lever-t half way around so as to bring the otherend of lever 5 into an engaging position for the spring f and thenreinserting the parts a 1) 7), into the apparatus to the position shown,at the same time reengagiug spring f, with the said other end of .thelever 5,, The operation and resetting of the apparatus. as abovedescribed, may be' repeated as many times as desired.

Contact members of atesting plug may be inserted between the ends of e,and a and between the ends of d and 6 in either one or both of a pair ofprotectors, to separate the contacting portions 0 a, and d 6, and makecdnnections therewith and thereby allow the switchboard circuits, theline circuits, and the protectivedevices, to be tested independently-ofeach other.

I desire it to be understood that the device of this invention may beadapted for use in connection with various circuits and under variousconditions. Also that the portions n i a s, n fa) 7 (Z27 or theirequivalents, may be shaped, proportioned and associated with each otheras desired, to suitably fulfil the requirements, without departing from'the scope of the claims.

I do not wish to limit this invention to the particular details ofconstruction herein set forth, as various modifications thereof may bemade or utilized without departing from the scope ofthe appended.claims.

Certain features or the, protector herein set Forth form thesubject-matter of my United States Letters Patent No. 1,238,728, datedAug 28, 1917, of which this present application is a division.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. An electrical protector having a ground plate comprising a pluralityof sheet-metal portions place togetherljiroadsidedly, rows ofhigh-potential electricity arresters on opposite sides of the groundplate along one edge thereof, and spring members carried by the groundplate and holding the arrest ers against the ground plate, the portionsof the ground plate between the arresters be-' ing formed outwardly toseparate the rows of arresters from each other more than the thicknessof the metal of the plate.

2. An electrical protector having a ground plate comprising a pluralityof sheet-metal portions placed together broadsidedly, rows ofhigh-potential electricity arresters on opposite sides of'the groundplate along oneedge thereof, and springme mbers carried by the groundplate and holding the arresters against the ground plate, the portionsof the ground plate between the arresters being formed outwardly toseparate the outer endsof the arresters of the respective rows from eachother more than the thickness of the metal of the plate.

3. An electrical protector havinga ground plate comprising a pluralityof sheet-metal portions arranged substantially parallel and in closeproximity to each other, rows of thigh-potential electricity arresterson op posite sides of the ground plate along one edge thereof, andspring members carried by the ground plate and holding the arrestersagainst the ground plate, the portions of the ground plate between thear-,

resters being spaced from each other to separate the rows of arrestersfrom each other more than the thickness of the metal of the plate.

4. An electrical protector having a ground plate comprising a pluralityof sheet-metal portions arranged substantially parallel and in closeproximity to each other, rows of high-potential electricity arresters onopposite sides of the ground plate along one edge thereof, and springmembers carried by the ground plate and holding the arresters againstthe ground plate, the portions of the ground plate between the arrestersbeing spaced from each other to separate the outer ends of the arrestersof the respective rows from each other more than the thickness of themetal of the plate.

5. An electrical protector havinga ground plate comprising sheet-metalportions placed together broadsidedly, and rows of highpotentialelectricity arresters mounted on opposite sides of the ground plate inclose proximity thereto, the portions of the ground plate between thearresters being formed outwardly to separate the rows ot'v arrestersfrom each other more than the thickness of the metal of the plate.

6. An electrical protector havingaground plate comprisingsheet-metalportions placed together broadsidcdly, and rows of high-potentialelectricity arresters mounted on'opposite sides of the ground plate inclose proximity thereto, the portions of the ground plate between thearresters being -formed outwardly to separate the corresponding ends ofthe arresters of the respective rows from each other more than thethickness of the metal of the plate.

7. An electrical protector havinga ground plate comprising sheet-metalportions ar-" ranged substantially parallel. and in close proximity toeach other, and rows of highpotential electricity arresters mounted onopposite sides ofthe ground plate in close proximity thereto, theportions of the ground plate between the arresters being spaced fromeach other to separate the rows of arresters from each other more thanthe thickness of the metal of the plate.

8. An electrical protector having a ground plate comprising sheet-metalportions arranged substantially parallel and in close proximity to eachother, and rows of high potential electricity arresters mounted'ohopposite sides of the ground plate in close proximity thereto, theportions of the ground plate between the arresters being spaced fromeach other to separate the corresponding ends of the arresters of therespective rows from each other more than the thickness of the metal ofthe plate.

9. An electrical protector having a sheetmetal mounting plate, and rowsof high-potential electricity arresters mounted on opposite sides of themounting plate along one edge thereof, the mounting plate being formedto separate the rows of arresters from each other more than thethickness of the metal of the plate.

10. An electrical protector having a sheet metal mounting plate, androws of high-potential electricity arresters mounted on opposite sidesof the mounting plate along one edge thereof, the mounting plate beingformed to separate the outer ends of the arresters of the respectiverows from each other more than the thickness of the metal of. the plate.7 x

11. An electrical protector having a sheetmetal mounting plate, and rowsof high-potential electricity arresters mounted on opposite sides of themounting plate, the mounting plate being constructed to sepa rate therows of arresters from each other more than the thickness of the metalof the plate.

\ 12. An electrical protector havinga sheetmetal mounting plate, androws ofhjigh-potential electricity arresters mounted on opposite sidesof the mounting plate, the mounting plate being constructed to separatethecorrespondingends of the arresters of the respective rows from eachother more than the thickness of the metal of the plate.

13. An' electrical protector having a mounting portion, and rows ofhigh-potential electricity arresters mounted on opposite sides of themounting portion along one edge thereof, theopposite arresters formingpairs, the mounting portion being constrncted to separate the outer endsof the arresters oft-the respective rows from each other sutiici'entlyto admit the end of'a persons finger between the arresters of a pair.

'14. An electrical prote'etor' having a mounting portion, and rows ofhigh-poten tial electricity arrcsters' mounted on opposite sides of themounting portion, the opositc arresters forniin airs the mount ingportion being constructed'to separate the correspp nding ends of theopposing arresters from each other sufiiciently to admit the end of apersons finger therebetween' 15. An electrical protector havingsubstantially parallel rows of high-potential electricity arresters, theopposing arresters forming pairs, and means separating the correspondingends of the opposing arresters from each other 'sufliciently to admitthe end of a persons finger therebetween.

16. In an electrical protector, a pair of high-potential electricityarresters arranged substantially parallel and back to back, and

means separating the corresponding ends ofthe arresters from eachothersuliidently to means separating. the corresponding ends of thearrestcrs from each other suthcientlyto, admit the end of a'person"sfinger therebe-' tween.

As inventor of the foregoing I hereunto subscribe my name, this 12th dayof July,

- FREDERICK PARKER.

Witnesses: I i

Tneononn E. KISCHEL. ELsin l/VIGKI-IAM.

